The May 13-16, 2018, TechConnect World Innovation Conference and Expo will include a panel discussion on “Safety in Advanced Manufacturing: A Profit Maker or a Profit Taker?” as part of the advanced manufacturing symposium.  The panel discussion, which will be held on May 16, 2018, will provide a forum to examine existing health and safety approaches that enable Industry 4.0 and the advanced manufacturing ecosystem.  It will consider the challenges and opportunities to incorporate new safety paradigms into business operations, and explore options for flexibility and scalability of a health and safety program for startups through small, medium, and large corporations.  Following brief presentations, there will be small group discussions that address critical questions, and an interactive closing panel discussion that incorporates the small groups’ discussions and considers advanced manufacturing workplace safety as a profit maker or profit taker.  The session Co-Chairs include Chuck Geraci, Ph.D., CIH, Associate Director for Nanotechnology, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH); Sally Tinkle, Ph.D., Senior Strategy and Policy Advisor, IDA/Science and Technology Policy Institute, and former Deputy Director of the National Nanotechnology Coordination Office; and Michael Fancher, Director, New York State Center for Advance Technology in Nanomaterials and Nanoelectronics, Associate Professor, SUNY Polytechnic Institute.  The topics for panel discussion include:

• Hazard determination and exposure assessment in the advanced manufacturing workplace;

• New opportunities for building safety into processes: automation, robotics, and other emerging technologies;

• New models of occupational safety and health practice and program management during scale up;

• Methods and models for risk assessment and risk management across the advanced manufacturing life cycle; and

• Creating partnerships to share best practices for managing advanced manufacturing safety challenges.